Travel bag for garments



March 18, 1969 B sprrz TRAVEL BAG FOR GARMENTS m I M 1%, p e E @4 5mm Filed Feb. 5, 1968 United States Patent Ofice 3,433,335 Patented Mar. 18, 1969 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A generally flat bag, with or without gussets, for hanger-supported garments folda'ble transversely to dispose the hanger end in an external pocket of the bag with the hanger hook extending through an opening in the base of the pocket to act as a handle.

Longitudinally zippered garment bags for carrying garments on a hanger are known. To facilitate carying, some of these bags are foldable transversely to dispose the bottom of the bag near the top. In some of these bags the entire hanger is supported within the bag on an internal bar with the bag having a separate carrying handle. Such a construction is expensive and often unsatisfactory, largely because the hanger tends to become unlocked from the bar during carrying. In addition, such a construction requires straps or other fastening means to hold the bottom and top ends of the bag in folded position. In other types of garment bags it has been proposed to extend the hook of the hanger through an opening at the top of the bag to act as a handle but again if the bag is folded transversely it has been necessary to use external fastening means such as straps to hold together the top and the bottom ends of the transversely folded bag.

It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the need for separate external fastening means and to hold the top and bottom ends of a transversely folded travel bag together in a unique way. In this respect the invention provides a pocket on one face of the bag near the bottom with a receptive opening in the bottom of the pocket adapted to receive the hook or other protruding the support member of the hanger to act as a carrying handle. In this way the hanger, the shoulder portions of the garments supported thereby and the top portion of the bag itself are pushed into the open mouth of the pocket with the protruding support member of the hanger, hereinafter termed merely a hook for simplicity, extending through the receptive opening of the pocket as a handle for the folded bag.

A further object of the invention is to provide an external pocket on a travel bag, useful for the aforesaid purpose or optionally useful as a storage pocket for accessories or small items of clothing. It is often desirable to provide a zipper for such a pocket, making it useful for both purposes and insuring that the mouth of the pocket will be neatly closed when the pocket is not being used or when it contains such accessories or small items of clothing.

Another object is to form the pocket in such way as to assist in holding the bottoms of the garments against slipping in the bottom portion of the bag when the bag is folded and this bottom portion is tucked into the pocket.

Still further objects of the invention reside in the gusset means that are preferably used both at the base of the pocket and the top of the bag.

In the drawing, which illustrates preferred embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the unfolded bag with phantom lines showing the manner of folding;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the bottom of the bag taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the top of the unfolded bag;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bag when folded;

FIG. .5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the folded bag, taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an alternative pocket construction.

The invention includes a generally flat garment bag 10 that is made of flexible sheet material such as waterproofed cloth or plastic. The bag includes front and rear panel members 11 and 12 with their edges afiixed together throughout a major portion of the length of the bag, e.g., by a stitched binding tape 13 on each side of the bag. The bag has a closeable opening extending in a direction from top to bottom of the bag substantially throughout the height thereof, exemplified as an opening along the front panel 11 closed by a zipper 15. The opening may be otherwise closed and may be otherwise positioned with respect to the bag, e.g., along an edge thereof, so long as it gives access to the interior of the bag throughout a major portion of its length.

The top of the bag may be similarly closed by a stitched binding tape holding the top edges of the front and rear panel members together. However it is preferable to join the top edges of these panel members .11 and 12 by a gusset means that may be formed of a single conventional gusset member with an opening 18 at the top of the bag for reception of a hook 19 of a hanger 20 that is to support the garments within the bag. Preferably however the gusset means includes two gusset members 22 and 22a with bound edges 23 and 23a near the center of the bag that overlap slightly and that may be separated to form the opening .18. The gusset members 22, 22a have ends tapering to points at the sides of the bag. The binding tape 13 may be used to attach the gusset members to the rear panel member 12 and a similar binding tape 24 can connect these gusse-ts to the front panel member 11.

No significant novelty is claimed per se for the bag .as thus described. The garments are disposed on the hanger 20 in the usual way and the hanger-garment combination is then inserted into the bag before zippering the longitudinal opening. The garments are suggested generally by the numeral 25 of FIG. 5 and will normally hang to a position near the lower end of the bag.

The invention includes an external pocket 28 (FIG. 2) at the bottom of the bag exterior to one face thereof. This pocket should be of a size to receive the garment-supporting hanger and the surrounding top portion of the bag when the bag is folded. The pocket 28 is preferably formed by a flap 30 stitched to the rear panel member 12 at the sides and bottom of the flap. The flap has an upper lip 32, preferably reinforced by a binding tape 33, forming a mouth 34 for the pocket 28. The flap 30 should extend across one face of the bag, e.g., the rear panel member 12, from side to side thereof and should extend from the bottom of the bag to a position between such bottom and a transverse line short of the midsection of the bag so that the height of the pocket, measured longitudinally of the bag, is sufficient to receive the hanger 20 and the shoulder portions of the garments mounted thereon. Preferably the pocket is of a height of about A the longitudinal length of the bag, measured when the bag is fiat.

It is within the scope of the invention to sew the sides and the bottom of the flap 30 directly to the sides and bottom of the front and rear panel members 11 and 12, in which event the bottom of the pocket 28 will be of minimum thickness, measured perpendicularly to the rear panel 12. It is distinctly preferred however to provide a gusset means at the bottom of the flap 30 so that the pocket 28 will be of significant thickness at the bottom.

It is an important feature of the invention that the bottom of the pocket 28, however constructed, should include a receptive opening 36 (FIGS. 1 and 4) through which the hook 19 may be extended when the bag is folded.

In the preferred construction the pocket gusset is made of two gusset members 38 and 38a, preferably with bound edges slightly overlapping near the bottom center of the bag with these edges being separable to form the receptive opening 36. Each gusset member is preferably of substantially uniform width throughout a major portion thereof near the center of the bag but provides ends 39 and 39a tapering to points at the sides of the bag. In the preferred construction the sides and bottom of the front and rear panel members 11 and 12 are sewed together and to one side of the gusset members 38, 38a. In this connection the binding tape 13- can be continued from the sides of the bag across the bottom thereof, being used to join the panel members 11 and 12 to the gusset members 38, 38a in a manner suggested in FIG. 2. Another length of binding tape 40 will then be used to join the gusset members to the bottom and sides of the flap 30. I

The bottom edges of the panel members 11, 12 and the lower edge of the flap 30 are preferably rounded at the bottom corners of the bag with the gusset following the curve thereof. In addition, the thus-rounded shape of the lower end of the bag should correspond generally to the similarly-rounded shape of the bag at the top. A bag constructed as above will provide an internal garment space tapering to a minimum thickness in its bottom portion 42 (FIG. 2). At the same time the bottom portion of the pocket 28, indicated at 43 in FIG. 2, can expand to maximum thickness as there suggested.

The upper lip 32 of the flap 30, reinforced by its binding tape 33, extends tautly across the bag when the side panels are fiat. The mouth 34 of the pocket 28 will thus be closed when the bag is flat or when garments are therein to separate the front and rear panels 11 and 12 as suggested in FIG. 2.

The mouth 34, formed between the upper lip 32 and the rear panel member 12, may be left open, as suggested in FIGS. l-5. However in many instances it is desirable to use a zipper to close the pocket 28 at the mouth 34 thereof as suggested in FIG. 6. A zipper 46 may be used for this purpose, a preferably made in two sections 46a and 46b that open outwardly as suggested in FIG. 6. The pocket 28 may then be used for carrying accessories or small items of clothing when the pocket is not used for receiving a portion of the folded bag.

In use, the garment-filled bag is folded near its midsection and the hanger hook 19, now protruding through the top opening 18 of the bag, is forced into the pocket and through the receptive opening 36 at the bag bottom. At the same time the hanger 20 with the shoulder portions of the garments and the surrounding top portion of the bag is tucked into the pocket 28. The thus-folded bag is best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The hook 19 will act as a handle for carrying the folded bag. The zipper will be on the exterior of the folded bag with the embodiment of the invention shown.

With the bag folded as in FIG. 5, the lower portion of the garments will be in the bottom portion 42 of the garment space and will be laterally compressed therein by the tapered shape of the space suggested in FIGS. 2 and 5. The lowermost ends of the garments will then normally be above the lip 32 when the bag is folded as in FIG. 5. In a normal folded bag the lower portions of the garments will tend to slough in the bottom portion of the garment space when the bag is folded. Such sloughing is minimized by the invention because, first, the bottom portion of the garment space 42 is preferably tapered to compact the lower portions of the garments between the front and rear panel members 11 and 12 and, second, because the taut upper lip 32 of the flap tends to compress the upper portions of the garments in the upper portion of the garment space laterally against the lower portion of the garment in the space 42. When the top of the bag is tucked into the pocket 28 the upper lip 32 of the flap bows outward to a sufficient distance to accommodate the top of the bag. At the same time the lip 32 tends to compact the garments, both in the upper and lower portions of the garment space. Due to these actions, garments carried in the bag of the invention have less tendency to slough in the garment space than in conventional folded bags.

It will be apparent that the hook 19 has been exemplified merely as one form of protruding support member of a hanger. This support member may take other forms without departing from the spirit of the invention, in which event the opening 18 at the top of the bag and the receptive opening 36 at the bottom of the bag will be correspondingly shaped and sized to receive the support member. It will be apparent also that the invention has been described in its preferred embodiments and that various changes and modifications, apparent to those skilled in the art, can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A travel bag for receiving and carrying at least one garment mounted in a hanger having a protruding support means comprising a support member, said travel bag including in combination:

a generally flat bag made of flexible sheet material and having therein a garment-receiving space, said bag having a closeable opening extending in a direction from top to bottom of the bag substantially throughout the height thereof for reception of such hangermounted garment, the top of said bag having an opening receiving said protruding support member, the bottom of said garment-receiving space being completely closed, said bag being foldable transversely while the garment is therein to dispose said protruding support member in the vicinity of the bottom of the bag;

a pocket at the bottom of the bag exterior to one face thereof, said pocket being of a size to receive the garment-supporting hanger and the surrounding top portion of the bag; and

a receptive opening at the extreme bottom of the bag opening exclusively into said pocket and not into said garment-receiving space, said receptive opening receiving said protruding support member as the bag is being folded upon itself, said support member extending through said receptive opening and forming a handle for the folded bag and the hanger-mounted garment therein, the weight of the bag and garment or garments therein being carried exclusively by the support means that extends through the receptive opening of the pocket.

2. A travel bag as defined in claim 1 in which said pocket is formed by a flap at the bottom of the bag extending across said one face of the bag from the bottom thereof to a position between such bottom and a transverse line short of the midsection of the bag, said flap having a straight reinforced lip extending along said transverse line between the sides of the bag close to said one face thereof and in contact with such face when the bag is flat, said lip forming a mouth for said pocket.

3. A travel bag as defined in claim 2 in which the height of the pocket measured longitudinally of the bag is about one-quarter the longitudinal length of the bag when flat.

4. A travel bag as defined in claim 1 in which said garment bag includes two panel members having side edges connected together, one of said panel members providing said one face of said bag, the panel members having top edges connected by a gusset means with the gusset means and the top edges of the panel members sloping toward rounded corners in a generally-rounded shape corresponding to the hanger and the shoulders of the garment carried thereby, said pocket being formed by a flap at the bottom of said bag extending across the face of said one of the panel members, the bottom edge of said flap and the bottom edges of said panel members being substantially the same generally-rounded shape as the top edges of the panel members and said gusset means connecting same whereby the bottom of the pocket corresponds in shape to the hanger and shoulders of the supported garment, said gusset means providing said opening at the top of the bag receiving said protruding support means.

5. A travel bag as defined in claim 1 in which said bag includes two panel members having sides and rounded bottom corners, the sides of said panel members being interconnected and said rounded bottom corners being interconnected, one of said panel members providing said one exterior face of said bag, said pocket being formed by a flap overlying a portion of said one exterior face, said flap having a lower edge generally conforming in shape to the bottom of the bag and connected to the bottom edge of at least one of the panel members by a gusset means providing said receptive opening, the top edge of said flap forming with said one exterior face the mouth of said pocket.

6. A travel bag for receiving and carrying at least one garment mounted on a hanger having a protruding support member, said travel bag including in combination:

a generally fiat bag made of flexible sheet material, said bag having a closeable opening extending in a direction from top to bottom of the bag substantially throughout the height thereof for reception of such hnger-mounted garment, the top of said bag having an opening receiving said protruding support member, said bag being foldable transversely while the garmet is therein to disposed said protruding support member in the vicinity of the bottom of the a pocket at the bottom of the bag exterior to one face thereof, said pocket being formed by a flap at the bottom of the bag extending across said one face the bag from the bottom thereof to a position between such bottom and a transverse line short of the midsection of the bag, said flap including an edge at such position, said pocket being of a size to receive the garment-supporting hanger and the surrounding top portion of the bag;

a zipper means detachably connecting said edge to the adjacent face of said bag, said zipper means being openable to expose said pocket for reception of said garment-supporting hanger and the surrounding top portion of the bag; and

a receptive opening at the extreme bottom of the bag opening into said pocket to receive said protruding support member as the bag is being folded upon itself, said support member extending through this repective opening to form a handle for the folded bag and the hanger-mounted garment therein.

7. A travel bag for receiving and carrying at least one garment mounted on a hanger having a protruding support member, said travel bag including in combination:

a generally flat bag made of flexible sheet material the bottom edge of the bag, said bag having a closeable opening extending in a direction from top to bottom of the bag substantially throughout the height thereof for reception of such hanger-mounted garment, the top of said bag having an opening receiving said protruding support member, said bag being foldable transversely while the garment is therein to dispose said protruding support member in the vicinity of the bottom of the bag; and

a pocket at the bottom of the bag exterior to one face thereof, said pocket being of a size to receive the garment-supporting hanger and the surrounding top portion of the bag, said pocket being formed by a flap 'having a lower edge conforming in shape to the bottom of said bag,

there being a gusset means extending between the lower edge of said flap and the bottom edge of the bag, the top edge of said flap forming with said one exterior face the mouth of said pocket,

said gusset means provind g a receptive opening at the extreme bottom of the bag opening into said pocket to receive said protruding support member as the bag is being folded upon itself, said support member extending through such receptive opening to form a handle for the folded bag and the hanger-mounted garment therein.

8. A travel bag as defined in claim 7 in which the bottom edge of at least one of the panel members and the lower edge of said flap are correspondingly curved and provide rounded bottom corners at the bottom of the bag, said gusset means including a gusset joining the bottom edges of at least one of the panel members and the lower edge of said flap, said gusset having tapered end portions to provide a pocket that tapers in thickness, measured perpendicular to the exterior face of the bag, from a maximum thickness at the bottom of the bag to a minimum thickness at the mouth of the pocket adjacent the top edge of the flap, said gusset providing said receptive opening.

9. A travel bag as defined in claim 7 in which said gusset means comprises two gusset members with edges slightly overlapping near the bottom center of the bag, forming an openable space therebetween constituting said receptive opening.

10. A travel bag as defined in claim 7 in which the top of the bag is arched in a curve generally corresponding to the curve of the lower edge of the bag.

11. A travel bag as defined in claim 7 in which the top edges of the panel members of the bag are interconnected by a gusset means having ends tapering to points at the sides thereof, said last-named gusset means providing said opening in the top of the bag for receiving said protruding support member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS comprising two panel members connected together at DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner. 

